The Bees travel to the Black Country tomorrow to face Walsall at the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium in away game number 15 of our 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two campaign.
After picking up two points from a possible six over the past week, Dean Brennan’s side will be looking to return to winning ways against a side who currently occupy the last play-off spot.
The points were shared at the Hive on Tuesday night between the Bees and play-off chasing Crewe Alexandra, with Kabongo Tshimanga’s seventh-minute strike being cancelled out by Owen Lunt before the break.
A tie that saw numerous tactical switches from both sides throughout the 90 minutes, but the final 45 of those provided no opening for either team to find a winner in North West London.
Barnet are looking to extend their unbeaten run to five league games in tomorrow’s visit to the West Midlands.
Barnet’s last five results:
Barnet FC 1-1 Crewe Alexandra
Shrewsbury Town 0-0 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 1-0 Tranmere Rovers
Barnet FC 3-2 Oldham Athletic
Grimsby Town 1-0 Barnet FC
Walsall:
As previously mentioned, the Saddlers occupy the final play-off spot going into tomorrow’s test, six points and four places above the Bees.
If anyone has a point to prove out of the 24 sides in the division this season, it’s tomorrow’s opponents, who were 12 points clear at the top of the table at Christmas last season and failed to earn promotion through the play-offs come May.
Mat Sadlers’ side have had a recent dip in form and have only won one of their last seven league outings, their most recent victory coming on Saturday 17th January away at Tranmere Rovers.
Walsall are the lowest possession-based team in the division, proving that even if you don’t have much of the ball, if you have the quality on it, results can go your way.
Their most recent outing was away to a struggling Bristol Rovers side who have now won two on the bounce, with goals in quick succession in the second-half from Yusuf Akhamrich and Kofi Balmer sending Walsall home empty-handed.
The Saddlers had 15 shots during the course of the Tuesday evening tie compared to the Rovers’ ten, but only three were directed on target in a game that Walsall Head Coach Mat Saddler says didn’t have much in it between the two sides.
Walsall’s last five results:
Bristol Rovers 2-0 Walsall
Chesterfield 2-2 Walsall
Walsall 0-0 Crawley
Walsall 0-0 Accrington Stanley
Tranmere Rovers 1-3 Walsall
In the opposition dugout:
Mat Sadler is heading towards three years in charge of the West Midlands outfit in May and is hoping to end his third season in charge as a manager of a side who will achieve League One status.
Despite a rut of results recently, the 40-year-old believes his side have shown great character over the past week, especially coming from behind in their 2-2 draw away at Chesterfield.
With five January transfer window editions, including permanent deals for midfielders Alex Pattinson and Alfie Chang from Bradford City and Birmingham, Mat is hoping his side can get back to winning ways sooner rather than later.
Loan editions from Premier League outfits and the return of Jid Okeke from Stockport County allows plenty of rotation and squad depth as the Saddlers enter an important phase of the campaign if they want to get out of this division.
One to watch:
Heading into tomorrow’s game, one of the Saddlers’ biggest attacking threats this campaign has been forward Daniel Kanu, who is on a season-long loan from Championship side Charlton Athletic.
In the 21-year-old’s second loan spell and his first in the EFL, he’s already found the back of the net on 12 occasions in the league, with three more scored in other competitions, sitting joint fourth in goals scored across the division.
The youngster’s positioning and movement in the final third allows him to create goalscoring opportunities, with his dribbling and technical ability allowing him to find gaps between defenders.
Last time the two sides met:
The two sides last faced off in matchday three of the season at The Hive, with Walsall taking the three points back to the Black Country.
The Sadlers opened the scoring inside two minutes through Barrett, before doubling their advantage 20 minutes later through Pressley.
Oli Hawkins scored five minutes before the break, heading home from an Anthony Hartigan corner to reduce the deficit.
The Bees took control of the second-half and had multiple opportunities to get more out of the game, with Hakwins, Emmanuel Osadebe, Zak Brunt and Ryan Glover all creating chances in front of the Saddler’s goal, some very late on, but it wasn’t meant to be as Barnet recorded their third successive defeat of the new season since returning to the EFL for the first time in seven years.
COYB